"Not where it should be -- supposed to be," plus other items

-- Andy Katz caught up with Sidney Lowe and Monte Towe to talk about the NC State basketball program's present and future:

Lowe said after every loss, while he's doing his media obligations, he knows where to find Towe. He will be in the coaches' locker room shower -- not with the water on but standing, "fuming.''

"I don't think people know how we feel about it,'' Lowe said. "We're going to do everything we can to get this program where it's supposed to be, not where it should be -- supposed to be, where he left it and where I left it.''

I would recommend to Monte that he defenestrate something after each loss.  That always helps me.  A minor appliance is a small price to pay for satisfaction.  Fuck you, espresso machine yeeeeah!  And if you happen to take out a squirrel in the process, hey, all the better.  But there probably aren't any windows in the locker room.

-- TOB's weekly presser:

Are there certain things you need to do better on defense this week or do you chalk last week up to playing an experienced quarterback?
No... no, no, no. We need to do a lot of things better, and it's our fault. The third-down conversions, we were horrible. Some of it I think was personnel-related... we had the opportunity to make plays and didn't make them. If you make plays then you're off the field and who knows what happens.

Offensively, the first three possessions of the game were as good as we've played offense since we've been here. Hopefully we're growing up a little bit on offense. We've been healthy the last couple of weeks.

Offense vs. Duke in the first half: 9.1 yards per play.  Second half: 3.7 yards per play. ?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????:((((((((((((((((((((((((~~!#@*!(&%#(

-- Some BC players look forward to seeing a few of their old coaches this week.

-- Get your dregs here.  NC State: "an affront to the entire concept of tackling"?  I lean towards yes.

-- You should listen to today's ACCSports.com podcast if only for Joe Ovies' Chuck Amato voice.  You can also hear the audio from the guy who called into the TOB radio show and told the coach to "pack his bags," which is priceless from start to finish.  That's the one upside to weeks like this one: the radio show gets good.

-- A tip of the cap to the Doc for this gem from Florida State President TK Wetherell:

FSU President T.K. Wetherell told the infractions committee during his opening statement that "student-athletes didn't start off with the idea of this is how I am going to 'cheat.'"

"We don't really believe they cheated," Wetherell said. "They got inappropriate help."

Can you imagine if NC State had someone to spew this kind of spin back in the '80s?  Clear sailing!  "We don't really believe Chris stole that stereo.  He gave himself an inappropriate discount."

"We don't really believe they were point shaving.  They had an inappropriate point surplus."

-- Let's see here...column idea...column idea...got it!

-- Dan Wiederer talks Luke Cothron:

1) What was it about N.C. State that sold Cothron?

[snip]

"Luke's been looking for someone who cares about him as a person more than they do about him as a basketball player," Bond said. "I think he found that with Coach Lowe. Above everything else, he's a coach you can talk to. And that's what Luke needs. He needs people around him that he can learn from and talk to so he can understand better how to live a productive and successful life."

On top of all that, Cothron has made several trips to State in the last year to attend Wolfpack basketball and football games and has left each time feeling magnetized by the energy.

"He's just gotten that vibe and that Pack pride," Bond said. "There's a history there that he wants to be a part of badly. He wants to restore that tradition and be mentioned with the N.C. State greats - David Thompson, Monte Towe, Sidney Lowe, Rodney Monroe, Chris Corchiani."

I think I'm gonna like this kid.